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North Frequesuan Trust
The North Frequesuan Trust (NFT) is an economic and political union of 3 member states, located in Frequesue. It was established by the Treaty of Incorporation on 4 July 2013 by the founding states of San Dorado and Coilerburg, and was expanded by the signing of the Mar del Plata Treaty on 1 June 2017 when Sabika joined the NFT as a full member. The Tanstaafl Raj holds observer status in the NFT and is often considered a de-facto (though not de-jure) member. The founding rules and principles of the NFT are written down in the Statute of Investment. The NFT operates through a hybrid system of subsidiarism and supranationalism, and has wide discretionary powers to make decisions for the member states, though those states are not completely subsumed within it. Since 2017 the anthem of the NFT is 'Upon Fair Frequesuan Shores', composed by the Coilerburger musician Jeanne Schuman. The official motto of the Trust is 'Unity in Diversity'. Government Chief Executive Officer Equal parts diplomat and manager, statesman and salesman, the President-CEO is a symbol of NFT ideals, a spokesman for the interests of its citizens and the highest-ranking official in the NFT. The Statute of Investment describes the CEO as "chief administrative officer" of the organization, who shall act in that capacity and perform "such other functions as are entrusted" to him by the Syndicate and the Member Governments. The individual selected as CEO and President is responsible for allocating portfolios to members of the Syndicate and can reshuffle or fire them if needed. He determines the Syndicate's policy agenda and all the legislative proposals it produces. The President is appointed by the member state governments and answers to the member governments who can censure him in a way similar to the relationship between shareholders and CEO of a regular corporation. The current President is Willy Bank, who is the successor of Sidney Hank. The Syndicate The Syndicate of the North Frequesuan Trust is the executive arm of the NFT. It is a body composed of twenty-five Commissioners and five High Commissioners, and is intended to be independent of national interests. The body is responsible for drafting all law of the NFT and has a monopoly over legislative initiative within the Trust. It also deals with the day-to-day running of the NFT and has a duty to uphold the law and treaties. Members of the Syndicate are nominated by the President and approved by the legislatures of all individual members. They serve no set terms. Each individual member of the Syndicate is responsible for a specific portfolio which is part of one of five larger Directorates-General (finance, external relations, justice, commerce or defence). These directorates are each lead by a High Commissioner. Bureaucracy Although the NFT main headquarters is located in San Dorado City, the bureaucracy that runs the Trust is scattered throughout all its member states. For example the capital of Coilerburg, is home to approximately 12 percent of all Syndicate bureaucracies, and the brand-new Rotherburgh Trust Building dominates a large part of the Rotherburgh skyline, a visible reminder of what the NFT has done for the country. The reason for the dispersion of the bureaucracy is threefold: for one, the Trust does not want to foster the idea that any one member is more important than the other. For two, well-paid Syndicate jobs can be a powerful stimulant of any local economy. And last but not least, the scattered nature of the NFT bureaucracy makes it more difficult for any particular opponent to take it out in one strike. Justice The Law of the North Frequesuan Trust is the unique legal system which operates alongside the laws of member states. NFT law has direct effect within the legal systems of its member states, and overrides national law in many areas, especially in areas covered by the single market and foreign policy. The supranational legal system of the NFT is best compared to that of a federal state. Member states do retain limited legislative ability, although the scope of this ability is restricted by the Statute of Investment to certain subjects relating to internal affairs, and are subject to scrutiny by the courts of the NFT. Administrative Court The Administrative Court is the highest court in the North Frequesuan Trust in matters of NFT law. It has the ultimate say on matters of NFT law in order to ensure its equal application across all NFT member states. It has jurisdiction in various specific matters, conferred on it by the Statute of Investment. In particular it is charged with ensuring that the law is observed "in the interpretation and application of this Statute", and this provision has been used by the Court to extend its powers beyond those otherwise expressly granted. Headquartered in Shipborough, Sabika, the Administrative Court has fifteen judges, five per member state. The Administrative Court is assisted by a lower court, the Court of First Instance, which has jurisdiction over direct actions brought by natural or legal persons, and by the Civil Service Tribunal, which hears cases brought by employees of the NFT's institutions. Law Enforcement The uniformed security services of the NFT are tiered much like the justice system. The member States each maintain their own police forces and security apparatuses; however above these exist a number of Trust-wide agencies that coordinate law enforcement across NFT territories regardless of state boundaries. North Frequesuan Coast Guard The North Frequesuan Coast Guard (NFCG) is a component of the under operational control of the commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security, although in wartime it answers to the chief of staff of the navy. As a maritime law enforcement agency its primary tasks are to provide maritime safety in the territorial waters and EEZ; to protect naval shore establishments (principally large harbors); to police the littoral waterways of the NFT; and to assist people at risk on the water. In order to carry out its duties the NFCG boasts a large number of patrol motorboats and cutters. National Intelligence Department The National Intelligence Department (NID) is a paramilitary agency that serves both as a Trust-wide criminal investigative body, a national security agency and a cryptologic intelligence agency. It is responsible for the investigation of interstate crime, for the interception of foreign operatives on NFT soil, and for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence. It is also responsible for protecting government communications and information systems from similar agencies elsewhere. The NID is believed to run a number of ground, airborne and satellite monitoring stations across the NFT. Office of Strategic Intelligence The Office of Strategic Intelligence (OSI), also known as the Office of Security and Intelligence, the Office of Strategic Influence or the Office of Scientific Intelligence, is a semi-secret international intelligence service responsible for providing national security intelligence to senior NFT policymakers. It collects and analyzes information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and conducts covert operations, paramilitary actions and exerts foreign political influence through its Special Activities Division. Its agents mostly operate abroad. Uniquely, OSI also maintains a branch dedicated to the creation and protection of new technologies vital to national defense (the Office of Scientific Operations). Economy Taken as a whole the NFT is the largest single economy on the Frequesuan continent, surpassing even Indhopal, although the integration of the Sabikan economy into the greater Trust economic system is as of yet ongoing. The currency of the NFT is the Shroomanian Dollar ($), and the Gross Domestic Product for the NFT in FY2017 is $2.1 trillion. GDP per capita in FY2018 is projected to be $ 27,109. Exports San Dorado exports raw and refined petroleum and petrochemical products, electrical machinery and equipment; microelectronics and semiconductors; weapons, aircraft and rocket technology. The San Doradan economy relies heavily on foreign trade, and is the continent's largest transportation hub. After the Caymans San Dorado has one of the world's strictest banking secrets. Sabika exports clothing and textiles, forestry products, beef, poultry, mutton, wool, dairy products, crude minerals, diamonds, gold, other precious metals, citrus fruits, rice and grain. Sabika is an emerging market with an abundant supply of natural resources, although it suffers from north-south growth disparity; the economy in the northern parts of the country grows much faster than the southern areas. Coilerburg exports textiles & leather, plastics & tires, electric components, machinery, publishing, maize, wheat, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; essential oils; inorganic chemicals, fertilizers (including phosphates), metal and engineering products, industrial half-products. After decades of economic malaise Coilerburg in recent years has been one of the leading Frequan nations for attracting foreign direct investments. Energy San Dorado generates virtually all its energy geothermally and is a net energy exporter (principally to the Tanstaafl Raj). Coilerburg generates energy principally through coal and oil-fired plants, but an increasing number of nuclear plants also exists. Coilerburg is a net energy importer, buying mainly from Omago and Indhopal. Energy to the Sabikan energy grid is generated mainly via gas energy plants, fueled by San Doradan gas. Sabika is energy independent and exports minor quantities of energy to Fimbulwinter in the north of the former CFR. Major Corporations Historically San Dorado has been home to some of the continent's largest corporations, with major players being Universal Motors (engines, vehicles, construction), SinTEK (biomedical technology), Ralson Concerns Inc. (aircraft, rocketry & weapons), Blues Brothers Steel & Shipping (shipyards & shipping), Standard Oil (petroleum & petrochemical products) and Morgan Finance International (financial products & services). Since the Incorporation however a number of Coilerburger companies have proven more than up to the challenge of competing with the established San Doradan companies, most notable among which are Coilerburg Heavy Industries (steel & machinery), Integral Dynamic (computers) and Trans-Frequesuan Heavy Rail (transport). Major corporations from Sabika are Keystone Agricultural Industries (fishing, agriculture & food processing) and Triassic Resources Corp (mining & mineral processing). Geography The scattered nature of the Trust, strewn as it is over an entire continental mass, poses a unique challenge to the union. The NFT covers an area of 1,138,983 km² not including the Overseas Departments. In terms of size its member states rank: 1. Sabika (669,825 km²) 2. Coilerburg (446,550 km²) 3. San Dorado (22,608 km²) Due to its proximity to the equator the climate across the NFT is primarily tropical; in San Dorado the weather is generally warm and rainy, with a cloudy southwest monsoon (mid-May to September) and a dry, cool northeast monsoon (November to mid-March); in Coilerburg the weather varies with altitude from humid and tropical to cold and semiarid; Sabika is mostly semiarid, subtropical along the northern coast, with varying weather over the southern pampas. The state of San Dorado borders the Tanstaafl Raj in the south-east and the Costa de las Cinco Muertes in the south-west. The states of Coilerburg and Sabika share an extremely long land-border with Omago in the south and south-west, and a smaller northern border with each other. Sabika borders the Paraná River (also known as the Yangtze) in the south, across from which lies the former-CFR territory now known as Fimbulwinter, and controlled by the Winter Army. Sabika also borders Minoy and Eastern Occidental in the south and the Terra Nullius of the Norther Jungles in the east. Overseas Departments Overseas Departments are NFT-administered territories not part of the member states. These territories have varying legal status and different levels of autonomy and reside directly under the Syndicate, although all have local representation. Overseas Departments have existed since 2015, when Syndicate policy dictated that Paradise Island be incorporated as an a Overseas Department. From a legal and administrative standpoint, departments are very different from member states. According to the Statute of Investment member states are allowed to make their own laws, except for some specific areas (like defense, international and intercorporate relations, international trade, courts and administrative law), that are reserved to the Syndicate. The Departments meanwhile are governed by Autonomy Statutes which specify their degree of autonomy. There is currently one 'official' Overseas Department: Paradise Island off the coast of North Velaria, although the territory of Fimbulwinter in the former CFR is often considered a de-facto Department. There also exists an autonomous area in western Coilerburg. The Halisbad Autonomous Territory is populated by an ethnic Sabikan minority and has a larger-than-usual degree of autonomy, but is not classified as an Overseas Department. Natural Resources San Dorado is a major producer of natural gas and petroleum, mainly from off-shore repositories in the Pacific and the Orizaco Basin. The Kirkwood Mountains in the south are mined primarily for tin, iron ore, coal, limestone, niobium, lead and zinc. The plains of Sabika produce gold, chromium, antimony, coal, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, tin and uranium. The southern ranges near the great rivers are mined for gem diamonds, platinum, copper, vanadium, salt, natural gas. Coilerburg produces large amounts of agricultural produce and is home to large repositories of lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, petroleum and uranium. Demography A Syndicate census survey in March 2017 estimated that 77,464,104 people lived in the NFT, excluding the Overseas Departments. Of these, 25,243,893 lived in San Dorado, 22,195,274 in Coilerburg, and 30,125,938 in Sabika. Average population density is 68 people per km², although San Dorado is far more densely populated than the other member states. The projected rate of population growth is currently 3.1 percent (as of 2018), mainly through immigration from Central Frequesue. The fertility rate in the NFT is 2.5 children per woman (as of 2015), which is low compared to many other Frequesuan countries. Life expectancy at birth is 73.25 years for males and 79 years for females. Ethnicity Within the state of Coilerburg the majority of the population is of Germano-Shroomanian descent, owing to Coilerburg's colonial history. In fact several branches of former Shroomanian nobility and their titles yet survive in the country, although their status in modern times is a purely honorary dignity. Coilerburg is also home to a significant minority of ethnic Sabikans in the west, who were until the Incorporation the target of frequent official discrimination, as well as smaller groups of ethnic Omagans and Minoyans in the south. Since the Incorporation the state has seen an influx of refugees from Central Frequesue that its populace is ill at ease with, not having dealt with this problem before (the Coilerburger regimes of past decades did not recognize requests for asylum and turned back refugees at the border, and imposed stiff penalties on illegal immigration). Sabika is dominated by ethnic Frequesuans, a majority Sabikans but also groups of Occidentalese, Minoyans, and peoples hailing from the northern jungles and the former CFR. Ethnic Sabikans share a common history with the people of the area now called Fimbulwinter in the northern CFR, that area once having belonged to the Great Sabikan Kingdom in the 19th century. The Kingdom and its size are a source of significant pride for the Sabikans, who know it as one of the few native Frequesuan powers that managed to repel successive waves of Shroomanian colonialism. San Dorado was founded by Shroomanian settlers on land bought from the Tanstaafl Raj, but during the heigh days of the privateers was essentially independent from the Shroomanian Empire and saw a massive influx of people from all over the world. It continues to see significant immigration, on the order of hundreds of thousands of people a year, most from Central Frequesue. As a result it is a hodgepodge of ethnicities with no single dominant group, but rather a 'melting pot' wherein the Shroomanian, Byzantine, Wilkonian, Tanstaafli and Canissian ethnicities have been mixed with native Frequesuans in search of San Dorado's single elusive promise: profit. Religion Most San Doradans share some form of belief in an anthropomorphic form of luck, e.g. 'Lady Fortune' known as the Sweet Lady. Though increasingly common this belief has not taken the form of an organized religion. Small islamic and hindu minorities exists, as well as a marginally larger orthodox minority. Coilerburg is home to a modest Anglican majority, with the Archbishop of Rotherburgh as its head, with Buddhist and Bahá'í minorities respectively in the west and south. Sabikans are overwhelmingly Bahá'í, with small Anglican minorities in the south, carried into the country by refugees from the CFR. Largest cities #San Dorado City, San Dorado (13,253,251) #La Palma, San Dorado (9,534,783) #Rotherburgh, Coilerburg (5,154,998) #Shipborough, Sabika (4,989,114) #Fallston, Coilerburg (4,138,556) #Mar del Plata, Sabika (3,657,613) #Berlaymont, Coilerburg (3,012,642) #Port Regal, San Dorado (2,123,841) #Halisbad, Sabika (1,864,811) #Chambesi, Sabika (1,381,667) International Agreements Alliances *Combined Alliance Treaty Organization (CATO) *Fungal Union of Nations (FUN) Organizations *Shroomanian Commonwealth *BIOCOM *Frequesuan Economic Community Treaties *Bioweapon Ban Treaty *Aerial Overwatch Treaty :Signatories: Tanstaafl Raj, Miratia, NFT :Pertains to: Combined airspace defense network & joint interceptor patrols Armed Forces The NFTAF, or North Frequesuan Trust Armed Forces, is the military of the NFT. In it the armed forces of its three member nations, as well as the navy of the Tanstaafl Raj, are completely integrated, and as such it can be said to be one of the few truly integrated international forces in the world. The armed forces count four main branches: the Army, geared principally toward rapid air assault operations; the Navy, a force capable of projecting its power around the continent of Frequesue as well as beyond; the Air Force, tasked with securing the skies over any battlefield as well as providing close air support and long-range striking power; and the Rocket Forces, whose purview is everything related to the weaponization of space as well as tactical and strategic rocketry. In addition there are several semi-independent branches that are technically part of a main branch but are also capable of independent operations, such as the Foreign Legion and the Marine Corps. Category:Nations of Frequesque Category:CATO Nations Category:Nations Category:North Frequesuan Trust Category:Player-Character Nations